200 ANATHXE. 



SPECIES 191 THE COMMON TEAL. 



Anas crecca. Linn. 

 Canard sarcelle cT Hiver. Temm. 



THE beautifully marked teal, the smallest of the ducks oc- 

 curring in our Fauna, is equally remarkable for the elegance 

 and neatness of its form as its chastely disposed plumage. 

 Occurring in considerable numbers, we may at all times 

 remark it during winter, either in small flocks scattered 

 along the shore-line of the Dublin coast, or in pairs upon the 

 sides of inland rivers. Attractive in both situations, the teal 

 admits of a nearer approach than any of our other wild fowl, 

 and in its habits is the most familiar of all the AnatidaB. Al- 

 though on the sea-shore, from frequenting the company of 

 widgeon and other ducks, it adopts to a considerable degree 

 their watchful and wary habits, yet, when observed in its 

 more accustomed haunt by the river-side, or on the inland 

 lake, it is always approachable, and when alarmed never leaves 

 the neighbourhood, but again settles at some distance further 

 off. For this reason, and requiring but a slight charge, it offers 

 a greater inducement to the sportsman than the more watch- 

 ful mallard. With the teal we also observe the beautiful 

 evolutions of the flocks when on the wing, perhaps exceeding 

 all our water-birds by their constant variation, and of which 

 few sights afford a greater attraction than their appearance, 

 disporting themselves in the upper air, with the few occasional 

 rays of the autumnal sun glancing upon their plumage, 



" They tempt the sun to sport amid their plumes." 



This beautiful appearance has been noticed by many of the 

 old writers, amongst whom, Drayton : 



" Ye see the lesser dibbling teale, 

 In bunches with the first that fly from mere to mere, 

 As they above the rest were lords of earth and ay re.'* 



We find also many notices of " teylles" in the olden re- 

 cords, where they appear not so highly valued as the delicacy 

 of their flesh deserved. 



Breeding in limited numbers in Ireland, the same causes of 

 drainage and improvement which have effected the decrease 

 of the bittern and mallard, by depriving them of retired and 

 suitable places in which to nidify, have likewise had a similar 

 effect upon the teal. Yearly on the decrease, at the present 

 time it occurs in much more diminished numbers than some 

 fifteen or twenty years since. 



